as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the
blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a
father to the poor; and the cause which I
knew not I searched out." These things
are not seen in merely isolated instances,
but in multitudes of cases; not on a limit-
ed, bnt on a gigantic scale, somewhat more
commensurate with the exigencies of hu-
manity than in former days, and a little
more in accordance with the injunctions of
our holy religion and its Divine Head.
Now, is it too much to ask that the oppo-

women who visit the bedsides of the sick ish came upon me, and I caused the widow's and the homes of poverty, to minister to heart to sing for joy. I put on righteoushuman wants, and often under circumstan-ness, and it clothed me; my judgment was ces of the greatest peril to health and life; and remember that as these were originated under the inspiration of Christianity, by men who had caught its spirit, so are they still maintained and perpetuated by such as are quickened by the same living power, who "do it as unto the Lord and not unto men." As of the early Christian women it was said, so is it true of them to this day: "Matrons especially devoted themselves to these works of charity, feeding the poor and ministering to the sick. They visited the meanest hovels and the most dismal pris-nents of Christianity would show us some of ons. 'But what heathen,' says Tertullian, 'will suffer his wife to go about from one street to another to the houses of strangers? What heathen would allow her to steal away into the dungeon to kiss the chain of the martyr?' It was because this benevolence was so universal that the pagans were struck with wonder and admiration, and marveled at the potent agency that could effect such results."

Two days ago, in company with a number of other delegates to this Conference, I availed myself of the invitation of the Mayor and Common Council of this city to visit the institutions which are maintained, under the direction of the Commissioners of Charities, in the islands of the East River. In the care of the sick, the poor, the helpless, the incurable, the insane, even of those who belonged to the criminal class; in the arrangements for the comfort of the soldier worn out in his country's service; and especially in the asylum for children on Randall's Island, where so many of the little waifs and strays of society greeted us, and in whose tiny shouts I thought I heard mingled the suppressed cry of heart-broken humanity that had begun to feel the warm touch of a generous benevolence-in all these I saw the direct and indirect effects of Christianity. It was a noble exhibition of that Divine charity which, as Dr. Reed said, exalts, honors, and purifies a people.

To all infidels and impugners of the work of Christianity as a remedial agency, to those who inquiringly or scornfully ask what good it has ever done in the world, we reply: "Look at the myriads it has blessed in relation to this life only for this is surely an argument you can understand listen to them, who, with a voice like the sound of many waters, acknowledge the million benefits they have derived from it." With a mightier emphasis than Job used can Christianity say: "When the ear heard me then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me it gave witness to me; because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to per

their trophies, won without any help from the
system they repudiate? They would find it
a hard task to do this; for at every step
in the exhibition we should lay our finger
on this and that act, and claim the motive
power as having been supplied by our de-
spised Christianity. Men of the world have
taken of the things created by it, and appro-
priated to themselves the credit of the crea-
tion. They have collected the medicaments
which have been distilled in the laboratory
of a divinely instituted religion, and labeled
them with their own names.
But it is very
easy to discern the true parentage of all be-
nevolent operations. If, in helping to dis-
possess poor humanity of any of its ills, the
children of the world claim the honor of
originating the thought and the work, we
say, "Thy speech bewrayeth thee. The
voice is Jacob's voice, though the hands be
the hands of Esau." Such persons run the
risk of being scornfully repudiated, as were
the sons of Sceva, who wanted to have the
credit of casting out devils; for as misery
and evil take their flight from the homes
and hearts of myriads, they cry to the mere
imitators of Christian benevolence, "Jesus we
know, and Paul we know, but who are ye?"

The day is not far off when those who
now speak evil of Christianity, as if its sa-
cred books were but a collection of old wives'
fables, will have to make the acknowledg-
ment that they contain within them senti-
ments and principles which have proved the
germinant power of all that has stirred hu-
man hearts to noble deeds; that, instead of
its domain being a mere paradise of dream-
ers, it is a nursery of noble souls that have
filled the world with their achievements,
and that will continue to do so in spite of
The Church of
the world's ingratitude.
Christ may be often smitten on the right
cheek, but she will return a kiss for a blow;
she may be reviled, but she will not revile
again; the ribaldry of the profane may pur-
sue her, but she wafts back her blessings in
return. She remembers the injunction of
the Divine Oracle: "If thine enemy hunger,
feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon

.

his head. Be not overcome of evil, but over- bids the visitor to the metropolitan cathecome evil with good.".

THE CARE OF THE SICK.

BY THE LATE COUNT AGÉNOR DE GASPARIN, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND.

[This essay of the late distinguished Count AGENOR DE GASPARIN, who took such a noble and hopeful stand in behalf of our nation and country at the time of our greatest trial, was prepared at my request for the General Conference three years ago, ten months before his lamented death, and was intrusted to me by his widow at La Pierrèire, near Geneva, to be used for the object he had in view. It was accordingly read in part before the Conference, and is here inserted in full, as the voice of one who, though dead, still speaketh.-Ed.]

Christian life. The number of offices instituted by the apostles was very limited-just what is necessary for the maintenance of order, the preaching of sound doctrine, and the distribution of alms in the name of the Church. With this indispensable exception, the apostles maintain the fundamental principle of the New Covenant-individual activity. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this," writes St. James, "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself un

GENTLEMEN,-I desire, in the first place, to express a sentiment of personal regret. Not only should I have been happy to take part in this truly œcumenical meeting of the representatives of Gospel Christianity, but, allow me to tell you, a feeling peculiarly deep binds me to the noble country in which you are now gathered. It would have been a great joy to me to shake hands with friends whose countenances are unknown to me, and to see with my own eyes a people which has set us such a noble example, and which holds the foremost rank in liberal civ-spotted from the world." When the Saviour ilization. Compelled as I am to decline the invitation with which I have been honored, I have felt bound to do as much as lies in my power, and I beg you to receive with indulgence a few short reflections on the subject I have been called to treat.

That subject is the care of the sick and of the poor, as it stands connected with the institution of deaconesses.

Allow me, gentlemen, to call your special attention to the care of the sick. It is for them that the institution of deaconesses has been founded, and the observations which this side of the question gives rise to apply so manifestly to the care of the poor that it would be but a repetition of the same arguments were I to examine the subject with regard to them. We shall find it to be a case of a fortiori.

Wishing to simplify and shorten as much as possible, I will spare you extracts and quotations, and have no recourse either to books or reports. The Gospel alone, experience, and facts will guide me while I endeavor to throw light upon the subject.

I. Nothing is more striking than the place assigned by the Gospel to the individual. Faith is individual, conversion is individual; the Good Shepherd "calleth his own sheep by their name." Every man individually is responsible before God; every man has individual duties to fulfill; consequently, no organization whatsoever—no system for promoting obedience, sanctification, or salvation

-can supply the place of individual effort. Now this applies to the exercise of charity, as well as to every other manifestation of

is describing the last judgment in terms inexpressibly solemn, these are the words he addresses to the elect: "I was naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." He does not say, "You gave money to an association which had undertaken to clothe and visit."

II. I grant that no one says these very words. No one thinks of giving Christians a permit of exemption from the duties of personal charity. By creating this new kind of charity, the Romish Church by no means intended to do away with individual benevolence. Nevertheless, the very existence of corporations for the carrying out of special objects naturally places those objects almost exclusively in the hands of those whose special business it is to attend to them, who are most familiar with them, and who consequently appear better fitted for the accomplishment of the duty than you or I.

And observe this: just as the Gospel principle which applies to the individual is specially manifested in the private exercise of charity, so the Romish Church, starting from a general principle which annihilates the individual, mutilates or destroys the individual manifestations of charity. The invention of charitable associations is only one of the practical consequences of that principle. Every one knows that the system which places the priest between God and the soul leaves no room for a personal faith, for conscientious self-government, and for a candid inquiry after truth. If the Romish Church undertake to rule over men's con

sciences and to promise them heaven, it is | collective charity; but shall I not be more not surprising that she should likewise un- or less inclined to look on them as the wheels dertake to perform all the duties of obe- which set the charitable machine going, by dience for them. The development of char- means either of taxes or voluntary contriitable corporations in her midst is a neces-butions as the workers of a well-regusary consequence of her system. She has lated engine, which coldly and systematicalsome men specially appointed for prayer, ly distributes its alms, the monotonous drone others for the maintenance of pure doctrine, of which I can easily distinguish, but which others for the guidance of consciences. She is destitute of a heart that beats and feels. could not do without special men for alms- If, on the contrary, direct intercourse with giving. Besides, these special agents are my fellow-creatures is restored to me by the convenient, and we are glad to avail our- Gospel, every thing changes at once. I feel selves of them. Let me be relieved of the fa- | the pressure of a friendly hand, my suffering tigue of seeking, and the trouble of coming awakens sympathy in the heart of another, to a decision. Let me be told what I ought I see the countenance of my helper, and love to believe, and what I ought to do. Let my responds to love in my own bosom. Thus duties toward the sick and the poor be ful- is mutual affection created, and thus by defilled by others in such a way as shall set grees disappears the poison of those social my conscience at rest. Are there not people questions which threaten our Old World, and whose business it is? It is not mine. Re- which the New World will do well to take ligious or charitable associations will act for into consideration. me, just as they pray for me. I will give the alms prescribed to me, as I accomplish the duties commanded me, recite the formulas drawn up for me, and submit to the penances imposed on me. Here are my dollars. Now leave me alone.

The weighty subject of practical charity would carry me too far; I therefore merely point out its importance. Two facts, however, stand out prominently: first, the predominance of individual activity; secondly, the limits within which this activity should

It would be difficult to be a Christian at be comprised. Beyond a certain boundary an easier cost.

it must not extend, if it would accomplish

not only inefficient, but hurtful, when we scatter our help right and left, instead of confining ourselves to the families we know, with whose wants and circumstances we are familiar, and with whom we can maintain an interchange of sympathies. Commonplace charity, alms given at the door, donations requested and forwarded by letter, are quite as injurious to the interests of real charity as is official help.

NOTE.-In several of our towns offices for re

III. Such are, gentlemen, the two tenden-its mission. Our individual charity becomes cies which have been in antagonism for eighteen hundred years—individual effort on the one hand, a mechanical system on the other. To confine myself to the question under consideration, I come to this conclusion. In proportion as the mechanism of good works is foreign to the spirit of the Apostolic Churches, so is it developed from century to century, in proportion as the doctrines of salvation by grace, and of faith in Christ, are lost amid outward forms-as the different ways of meriting heaven are multiplied-as the worship of God in spirit and in truth belief and reference-the_universal adoption of which can not be too highly recommendedcomes materialized as the immediate in- have been established. That of Geneva, under tercourse of the soul with God is prevented the direction of Mr. Edward Fatio, is, to my and the way into the Holiest closed--and as mind, a model worthy of imitation. At these the priesthood, with its spiritual guidance, in the true sense of the word, receive and careoffices men devoted, enlightened, and charitable, rises in power and importance. Charity be- fully examine a mass of letters dictated by povcomes mere almsgiving, and even this alms-erty, and full of its urgent requests — letters giving is the business of the priests or of which, before they undertook the office, appallthe corporations-that is to say, that directed the inhabitants of our towns, unable as they intercourse between man and man is at an were to get at the truth. end, quite as much as direct dealings with God.

After having taken a general survey of the requests, the party to whom they may be addressed dispatches them to the office, whither he likeNow Scripture brings man into contact wise sends the petitioner when the latter calls with man—the poor with the rich, the sick ceive the help he has extracted from the donor's for an answer, or, rather, when he comes to rewith the healthy. If such contact be done weariness, from his idleness-nay, from his very away with, the only satisfactory solution of selfishness, anxious as he is to be rid of importhe social question is done away with at the tunity-from any thing rather than from his benevolence. The office, which is in possession same time. If I am suffering, and I see of all the requests, and is perfectly well acquaintaround me nothing but charitable associa-ed with all the circumstances, sometimes gives tions-hospitals, aid given officially, special agents accomplishing the duties of their vocation-my heart will not be touched. I shall doubtless sincerely admire and deeply respect the devotedness of these agents of

a positive refusal, when professional beggars, idlers, or vagabonds are concerned. At others it strongly seconds the petitioner, especially when a family in distress needs a helping hand for a shorter or longer period; when a child is to be apprenticed or sent back to his native land

-while, at the same time, the office places at the employer's disposal both its experience and its good-will-to help him in finding a suitable situation, and in watching over the protégé. We may add that the chief endeavor of the office is to provide work for the indigent, and by that means to draw them up out of that miry slough which bears the name of mendicity.

free his family from the duties God had given them to fulfill. Our duties are our privileges; we must be careful not to deprive ourselves of them. A family will, perhaps, feel relieved when its sick member is carried to the hospital; but dare we affirm that such a It would be long to tell the evil these offices relief is a blessing? On the contrary, dohave prevented, the base imposture they have mestic care is so valuable, so much more calunmasked, the moral putrefaction cleansed, the culated to promote recovery than that bedeep misery relieved, the efficient help given, stowed in the best-regulated hospitals, that the real bonds of union cemented between rich at Paris, for instance, the public administraand poor through their means, the undisputed good they have done and are doing to this hour. tion has at length acknowledged its inconBut one thing is necessary: it is that on both testable superiority. Every year the above sides the same perseverance and the same ener-administration gives increasing proofs of the gy should be displayed. If the office meet with importance it attaches to home care. idleness and hesitation, and its activity be disturbed by continual inconsistencies; if the receivers of letters, instead of sending them to the office, and watching the progress of the affair, give their alms without reflection, to repent of It at their leisure—one day because an importunate beggar wearies them with his solicitations; the next, because they are seized with a fit of ill-judged, misapplied sensibility-the office, in spite of all its exertions, will be impeded in its movements, and the results of its labors will be compromised. We feel persuaded that the founders of the office for relief accomplish an excellent work, and render untold service to the poor and to society at large. Having seen these good Gospel daily laborers, who so courageously bear the heat and burden of the day, sometimes give way, both under the fatigues of their task and under the inconsistencies, we may add, the blinded incomprehension, and the very blame of those who should encourage them by every means in their power-we desire here to bear a solemn testimony to their devotedness, to their work itself, and to its utility.

I shudder when I see asylums for the aged, though founded, of course, with the best intentions. What an accumulation of infirmity, of debility, of dejection! If any need the family, it is the aged. They need to be surrounded with the cheerful voices of the young, and the merry laughter of children. They love children, and are loved by them. Now can there be any thing easier than to place old people who are friendless and poor in private families? With one quarter of the money which is expended in building, furnishing, and maintaining an almshouse, aged persons could be supported in villages where they would enjoy the free country air. Such a proceeding would not make so much show, but it would do more good. The principle which substitutes individual charity and the influence of the family for mechanical systems and hospitals is, when put into practice, of a much more extensive application than would at first be supposed. With regard to lunatics, and even confirmed madmen, whose state seems absolutely to require the special care of an asylum, we be

and quiet them. In Belgium, for instance, there is a custom of long standing, and which is frequently put into practice. There are villages in which persons in every stage of madness are received and taken care of. They are made to feel at home, and engaged in manual labor. The effect is most beneficial, and often they are completely cured.

IV. I have mentioned hospitals, and you will have seen, gentlemen, that I am not very fond of them. Of course, some are necessary. A limited number of hospitals, of limited size, are certainly required. But let us set aside as much as possible the tradi-lieve the privacy of the family would soothe tions of the Latin Church, which has covered Europe with those immense shelters of poverty, the building of which was long considered the most excellent of good works. In the Middle Ages, every thing was comprised in these two forms of charity-corporations and hospitals. People gave to corporations and built hospitals; then, through the medium of these hospitals and corporations, they took care of their sick and relieved their poor. Succeeding centuries have followed in the same track. Such a course is so convenient-so much in accordance with the systematizing spirit of Europe; this systematic charity allows private individuals, and society at large, to be so easy and comfortable.

V. Must it then be inferred that Gospel laborers, peculiarly fitted for the work, possessed of the requisite knowledge, and having a decided taste and aptitude for it men, in a word, who are clearly called to it

must it be inferred that such should not receive the necessary course of preparation for the care of the sick? By no means. However limited the number of hospitals may We ourselves are more under the influence be, the persons who are over them must be of Romish tradition than we are perhaps capable of fulfilling their duties, and this reaware. Every day we see new hospitals ris-quires a certain amount of training. All the ing, which true charity would not require, but which are essential to selfishness. Except in special cases, which need special remedies, it is a lamentable thing to take away a sick person from domestic care, and thus to

good-will in the world will not be a substitute for science and skill. We may add that the more home care is practiced, the more necessary will it be to have well-qualified nurses at hand, and thus to secure under our